5 minute read
Volunteers in the Spotlight
from Inside News September 2022
by RANZCR
September | Dr Xavier Yu
Dr Xavier Yu
The College relies on extensive volunteer contributions which represent a substantial time commitment by members, sometimes made more problematic with increased workloads in general during the pandemic. We would like to affirm our appreciation of all the volunteer work contributed by many dedicated individuals to the College and the professions. We thank you!
Inside News is asking members to relate their experience in volunteer roles and share tips for others considering taking up a volunteer role. For this edition we spoke to Dr Xavier Yu whose current volunteer roles include RANZCR Victorian Branch Committee Chair and Australian Medical Association Federal Council Radiologist representative. Dr Yu’s previous volunteer roles include Australian Medical Association (Victoria)| Board of Directors 2012–2015, Vice President (2016–2018), RANZCR Trainee Committee Secretary 2015, Victorian Branch Committee 2015–2022, Media Profile Working Group 2015–2018, Diagnostics Economics Committee 2018–2020.
Dr Yu graduated MBBS/BA (University of Melbourne 2000), entered radiology training in 2011 (with previous training in general surgery and orthopaedics) and gained Fellowship in 2016. He performs his volunteer work in addition to a number of non-volunteer clinical roles, as clinical radiologist for Monash BreastScreen, North Western BreastScreen, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Barwon Medical Imaging (Geelong), Western Hospital, Everlight Radiology and Capital Radiology.
He also holds the following non-volunteer non-clinical roles: designated radiologist and Director of Training for Monash BreastScreen, Capital Radiology (Capitol Health) Victorian Clinical Leadership Committee.
It’s clear that you have made a huge contribution by volunteering with the College. What motivates you to volunteer? How does volunteering contribute to patient care, to colleagues, to the professions?
My career in volunteering for the College has arisen from my extensive previous experiences and roles within the Australian Medical Association, including previously as the AMA Victorian branch Board of Directors and as Vice President. In particular, there was overlap between my role in the Clinical Radiology Training Committee as Secretary in 2015 and my previous role within the AMA on the Council of Doctors in Training.
I think my concern for the welfare of my colleagues, including but not exclusively radiologists, has provided the motivation to spare my time for involvement in College activities. Also, my perception of radiologists versus other doctors, reinforced by my involvement in the College’s Media Profile Working Group, is that we are generally more quietly spoken and need encouragement to air valuable opinions to our colleagues and other diagnostic imaging industry stakeholders.
Has volunteering given you skills and experience you could not otherwise have gained?
Volunteering for College and AMA activities has definitely enhanced and reinforced my communication skills with colleagues and stakeholders outside our own diagnostic imaging industry
What achievements are you most satisfied with/proud of as a volunteer?
I think that my involvement particularly with the Diagnostic Economics Committee (DEC), which only met once every few months, nevertheless fostered ideas for the College to ensure the Commonwealth Government was held to account for its funding of Medicarerebatable diagnostic imaging services. Of course, government funding for radiology remains inadequate, but the activities of those in College committees such as the DEC ensure radiology remains at the forefront of the attention of the Department of Health.
What has the pandemic meant for the volunteer experience? What are the risks of burnout? How best are these managed, in your view?
I think there are pros and cons with how COVID-19 has changed volunteer activities. On the one hand, the need to move to online activities has increased the availability of radiologists to participant in meetings and therefore broadened the quality of inputs across our various committees. However, on the downside, the number of online meetings for both clinical work (for example, attending and participating in multidisciplinary meetings) and volunteer roles has escalated to the point that some radiologists who regularly undertake volunteer work may now feel they are taking on too much but also feel obligated to continue.
An additional consideration is that online meetings, particularly our Scientific Meetings, can only do so much. I’m pretty sure that we all value in-person interactions to share ideas, such as at upcoming ASMs.
I think that many hands make light work, and if there are more radiologists available to volunteer in College activities that would be fantastic. For example, the Victorian Branch Committee would definitely welcome even ‘ad hoc’ volunteers if they wished to assist in organising educational activities and events.
Do you have any advice on volunteering in general? Are there efficiencies to be gained in sharing the volunteer experience?
I would definitely say to my colleagues who aren’t yet in a committee—please put your hand up to help out! Every little contribution helps the College collectively advance your cause and that of your colleagues. We need greater diversity of opinions and representation—including more participants from all genders!
What more can the College do to support volunteers? How can the College best support collaboration and knowledge transfer?
Perhaps there needs to be a rethink on when meetings are run: typically, they are in the evenings after work, but perhaps during the day would be better. Therefore, the College could do more to support volunteers by better engaging with industry to spare us ‘non-clinical’ support time.
Do you have a question for the next ‘volunteer in the spotlight’?
My question would be: what are the perceived barriers to (particularly younger) Fellows taking on College volunteering activities?
